ASHES OF THE SUNDERED STAR

Lira: The Sundered Star

The crown's roots had become her veins.

Lira stood at the edge of the Sky Tombs' shattered observatory, the Dusk Eclipse hanging low and bloated above her. Her hands—once calloused from grinding herbs—now shimmered with constellations, the meteorite shard's power threading through her like liquid starlight. The parasite's voice lingered in her mind, a serpent coiled around her thoughts.

"You are not a prisoner, Sundered Star. You are a queen."

Jessa limped to her side, Dawnbreaker's hilt smoldering in her grip. The knight's scarred face was pale, her armor dented from their flight through the tombs. "We need to move. The Council's hunters are closing in."

Lira didn't turn. "Where's Kael?"

"Alive. For now." Jessa spat blood onto the stone. "The Order's branding him a traitor. Again."

The crown pulsed, its roots tightening. Visions flickered—Kael battling shadows in the Ashen Wastes, Tyrus bargaining with rebels in Umbralis' undercity, the parasite's true form stirring in the Void.

"They will die without you," the parasite crooned. "Let me help."

"No." Lira clenched her fists, the stars beneath her skin flaring. "I'm done being your puppet."

Jessa grabbed her shoulder. "Focus. The Council's vaults hold answers. Your mother's research—there's a way to sever the crown."

Lira met her gaze. "And if there isn't?"

The knight's grip tightened. "Then we burn it all."

Kael: The Oathbreaker's Burden

The Order of Ember's fortress loomed like a gilded cage.

Kael stood in the training yard, Soulbrand's weight a familiar ache against his back. The knights drilled around him, their swords glinting in the bloody light of the Eclipse. He could feel their stares—the boy who'd abandoned his father, the man who'd failed his goddess.

"Weakness is death," they chanted. "Doubt is decay."

Commander Jarel approached, his burn-scarred face twisted into a sneer. "You look like hell, Vyrion."

"Feel like it too," Kael muttered.

Jarel's gaze dropped to Soulbrand. "The High Oracle demands your presence. They've captured a Voidspawn… herald."

Kael's blood turned to ice.

The dungeon stank of rot and despair. The creature hung from chains of molten ore, its body a shifting mass of shadows and broken armor. But its face—its face was Lira's.

"Kael," it whispered, her voice perfect. "Help me."

Soulbrand flared. "What is this?"

Jarel smirked. "A gift from the parasite. Seems it's fond of you."

The Voidspawn's form rippled, melting into Tyrus's lanky silhouette. "Don't be shy, Sunshine. Let's play."

Kael swung the hammer.

Tyrus: The Hollow Priest

Umbralis' undercity was a graveyard of shadows.

Tyrus crouched in the ruins of the Obsidian Spire, his claw—now more parasite than flesh—digging into the heart of a dead cultist. The rebel Voidspawn watched from the shadows, their mutations hidden beneath tattered cloaks.

"You're late," growled Goran, his crystalline knuckles gleaming.

Tyrus wiped ichor on his coat. "Fashionably."

Rissa stepped forward, her shadow stretching into Nyrisia's regal form. "The Eclipse nears its peak. The parasite's gate will open."

"And?" Tyrus flipped his dagger. "Got a plan, Starlight?"

"We need the Sundered Star."

He barked a laugh. "Last I checked, the witch is halfway to godhood. Good luck."

Goran's blade pressed against his throat. "You'll take us to her."

Tyrus grinned. "Or what? You'll kill me?"

Rissa's shadow tightened around his wrist. "Worse. We'll tell her you care."

The Eclipse Conclave

The Council's vaults were a labyrinth of lies.

Lira traced her mother's final journal entry, the words searing into her soul. "The crown is a lock. The shard is the key. To save her, you must break both."

Jessa pried open a rusted door, revealing a chamber lined with glass tanks. Inside floated creatures—half-human, half-Voidspawn—their bodies twisted by the Council's experiments.

"Gods," Jessa breathed. "They were making hybrids."

Lira's crown hummed. "You see? They fear what we are."

"Quiet." She pressed a hand to the glass. One of the creatures stirred, its star-lit eyes mirroring her own.

"Sister," it rasped. "Free us."

Jessa raised Dawnbreaker. "Don't."

Too late. Lira shattered the tank.

The Void's Gambit

The parasite's true form stirred.

In the darkness between realms, it stretched—a colossus of teeth and shadow, its voice a thunderclap. "Mine."

The Eclipse pulsed, its crimson light bleeding into the kingdoms. Voidspawn erupted from the earth, their forms perfect mimics of loved ones lost.

Solaris's desert burned. Umbralis's forests screamed. Veythra's sky wept ash.

And the Sundered Star shone brighter.

Convergence: The Triad's Last Stand

They met at the Eclipse Gate.

Lira's crown blazed, her body a constellation of scars and starlight. Kael's hammer crackled with dying embers. Tyrus's claw dripped void-ichor, his smirk brittle.

"Miss me?" he drawled.

The parasite's herald awaited them—a legion of shadows wearing their faces.

"Pathetic," it hissed through Kael's lips. "You cannot win."

Lira stepped forward. "We don't have to."

She plunged the shard into her chest.

Epilogue: The Dawn of Shadows

The crown shattered.

The Eclipse Gate collapsed.

The parasite roared.

And the world went silent.